Robotic feeding system for physically challenged persons

ABSTRACT

A robotic feeding system for physically challenged persons, having: a base rotatable about a first axis; a support on the base, the support being rotatable about a second axis, the second axis being perpendicular to the first axis; an extending member with a proximal end mounted to the support; and a food handling utensil mounted at a distal end of the extending member, wherein the distal end of the extending member is movable along a third axis, and wherein the third axis is perpendicular to the second axis.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to machines that serve food to physicallyincapacitated or otherwise physically disadvantaged persons.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mechanical systems currently exist for serving food to physicallyincapacitated or otherwise physically disadvantaged persons.Unfortunately, such systems tend to be large bulky systems that arecomplex to operate.

Typically, mechanical feeding systems are really food dispensers, ratherthan food servers. For example, many mechanical feeding systems simplydispense food from the distal end of a tube. This substantially limitswhat particular types of foods the person is able to receive with thefeeding system.

What would instead be desired is a simple and easy to operate mechanicalsystem that simulates the motions of a physically unimpaired person bypicking up standard food from a plate and then serving the food to theuser.

In addition, it would be preferably that such feeding system is veryeasy to operate by a user, such that a physically disadvantaged personis able to feed himself/herself with little or no assistance fromothers.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a simple and convenient machine thatpicks up and serves food to a person who is physically challenged.

In one preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a roboticfeeding system for physically challenged persons, comprising: a baserotatable about a first axis; a support on the base, the support beingrotatable about a second axis, the second axis being perpendicular tothe first axis; an extending member with a proximal end mounted to thesupport; and a food handling utensil mounted at a distal end of theextending member, wherein the distal end of the extending member ismovable along a third axis, and wherein the third axis is perpendicularto the second axis.

Preferably, the first axis is vertical and the second axis ishorizontal. As such, the base pans (i.e. moves) side-to-side, thesupport moves vertically up and down, and the distal end of theextending member moves in-and-out (i.e.: away from the base andsupport).

The food handling utensil may be a fork, spoon, spork, or other suitableutensil.

In preferred embodiments, a tripod onto which the base is mounted isalso included. Additionally, a positioning system may optionally beincluded to move the base about the first axis and the support about thesecond axis.

The present inventor has built and successfully operated the presentinvention using a telescope positioning system as the positioningsystem, and a car radio antenna assembly as the extending member. Thispositioning system was operated using a hand-held control that controlsmovement of the telescope positioning system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention ready to pick upfood from a plate.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention ready to servefood to a physically challenged person.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A robotic feeding system 10 is provided to serve food, for example, to aphysically challenged person. System 10 includes a base 12, a support14, an extending member 16 and a food handling utensil 18, as shown.Preferably, base 12 is rotatable about a first axis A1. However, thebase does not need to be rotatable. Support 14 is mounted onto base 12,with support 14 being rotatable about a second axis A2. Preferably,second axis A2 is perpendicular to the first axis A1, as shown.Extending member 16 has a proximal end 17 mounted to support 14; and afood handling utensil 18 mounted at a distal end 19 of extending member16. The distal end 19 of extending member 16 is movable along a thirdaxis A3, as shown. Preferably, third axis A3 is perpendicular to secondaxis A2.

Optionally, first axis A1 is vertical and second axis A2 is horizontal.It is to be understood, however, that the present invention is not solimited.

Optionally, the food handling utensil 18 may be a fork, as shown.Alternately, however, food handling utensil 18 may be a spoon, spork, orother suitable utensil.

In optional embodiments, system 10 further includes a tripod 20 ontowhich base 12 is mounted. It is to be understood, however, that thepresent invention is not so limited. For example, the present inventionmay also be positioned on top of a table, or counter, or as anattachment to a bed or wheelchair.

Optionally, system 12 further includes a positioning system 22 thatmoves base 12 about first axis A1 and also moves support 14 about secondaxis A2. Alternatively, separate positioning systems may be provided forbase 12 and support 14.

In one embodiment of the invention built and operated by the presentinventor, positioning system 20 was built from a Meade™ telescopepositioning system. Positioning system 20 may further include ahand-held control 22 that controls movement of positioning system 20.However, any suitable positioning system may be used. In addition, thecontrol switch for the positioning system may be of any suitable type,known to those of skill in the art. Preferably, a control switch can beselected to accommodate the physical disabilities of the intended user.

In the embodiment extending member 16 was built from a telescoping carradio antenna assembly.

An advantage of the present invention is that the proximal end 17 ofextending member 16 remains at substantially the same location in spaceduring the time that food is picked up and served to the user. As such,the present invention operates with movement in only three axes (A1, A2and A3). Such movement is very easy for a user to control. This isespecially important in the case of physically challenged users, sincesuch individuals are typically limited in the commands that they areable to give to their feeding systems. With the present invention, suchpersons need only control movement of the feeding utensil in three axes.Three axis movement is very intuitive since movement in each axis can becontrolled sequentially.

Movement of the feeding system is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 asfollows. In FIG. 1, the system is ready to pick up food from a plate.The user extends extending member 16 (along its longitudinal axis A3)such that food handling utensil 18 picks up food on the plate on thetable. Next, as show in FIG. 2, the user rotates support 14 upwardlyaround second axis A2 and further extends member 16 (along itslongitudinal axis A3) such that food handling utensil 18 is positionedto place the food in the mouth of a user sitting behind the table.

An advantage of the present invention is that a user typically need onlymove the system components of the device in two axes. Specifically, theuser may only need to rotate support 14 about axis A2 and extend/retractmember 16 along axis A3. Such two axis movement would occur when theuser sits directly in front of the feeding system. Preferably, theproximal end 17 of extending member 16 is positioned at approximatelythe same height as the physically challenged person's head. Suchpositioning would further facilitate easy feeding of the user.

In various embodiments, the present invention may be positioned on afree-standing tripod 20 that is positioned on the ground, asillustrated. Alternatively, however, system 10 may instead be positionedon a podium, pedestal or tabletop.

Although the present invention has been described in connection withpreferred embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilledin the art that additions, deletions, modifications, and substitutionsnot specifically described may be made without department from thespirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A robotic feeding system, comprising: a base; a support on the base,the support being rotatable about a first axis; an extending member witha proximal end mounted to the support; and a food handling utensilmounted at a distal end of the extending member, wherein the distal endof the extending member is movable along a second axis, and wherein thefirst axis is different than the second axis.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the base is rotatable about a third axis, the third axis beingdifferent than the first axis
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein thefirst axis is horizontal and the third axis is vertical.
 4. The systemof claim 1, wherein the food handling utensil is a fork.
 5. The systemof claim 1, wherein the food handling utensil is a spoon.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein the food handling utensil is a spork.
 7. The systemof claim 2, further comprising a tripod, wherein the base is mounted ontop of the tripod.
 8. The system of claim 2, further comprising apositioning system that moves the base about the third axis and thesupport about the first axis.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein thepositioning system comprises a telescope positioning system.
 10. Thesystem of claim 8, further comprising a hand-held control that controlsmovement of the positioning system.
 11. The system of claim 1, whereinthe extending member is a car radio antenna assembly.
 12. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the third axis is perpendicular to the first axis. 13.The system of claim 1, wherein the first axis is perpendicular to thesecond axis.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the second axis isperpendicular to the third axis.